By Bruce Golding
New York Post
December 10, 2010
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/take_the_nun_gYglkKhuxRoyvYQ18yF8YL
Talk about a really bad habit.
A nun known as Sister Susie was charged yesterday with embezzling more than $1.2 million from a Catholic college in Westchester County.
Sister Marie Thornton, 62, allegedly stole the money over the course of a decade while serving as vice president of finance at Iona College in New Rochelle.
Court papers say her unholy scam included getting reimbursed for phony vendor invoices and having the college pay "credit-card bills for personal expenses."
Officials wouldn't say where the money went, but a former men's basketball coach at the school has hinted on the radio that Thornton may have gambled away at least some of it.
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| Sister Marie Thornton |
"I think she absconded with some funds or something down to Atlantic City," Jeff Ruland, who was fired in 2007, said on WFAN-AM in March.
In October, the college's president, Brother James Liguori, publicly acknowledged the loss of only $800,000 but insisted that it had "recovered a major amount."
Iona officials reportedly fired Thornton after discovering the missing dough last year but didn't inform police or prosecutors.
Last night, the college said that it "took immediate action to terminate [Thornton]," and put into place new procedures to prevent similar fraud.
However, it called the amount alleged in the theft "significantly inaccurate."
A spokeswoman for the Manhattan US Attorney's Office -- which brought the case against Thornton -- declined to say what spurred its investigation.
Thornton was released without bail after waiving indictment and pleading not guilty to a single felony count of theft involving a federally funded program.
She faces up to 10 years in the slammer if convicted.
Defense lawyer Sam Talkin said, "We think the case will be resolved in a manner fair to all the parties involved," but declined to elaborate.
He also wouldn't say where Thornton, a member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph in Philadelphia, was currently cloistered.
Contact: bruce.golding@nypost.com
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